Islam is ‘Europe’s reality’, says Turkey’s EU minister

Responding to recent controversial comments by French far right politician Marine Le Pen, Turkey's EU Minister Egemen Bağış said Monday that "Islam is a reality for the European Union" and Europe against "burying their heads in the sand".

Islam is a reality for the European Union and Europeans won’t get anywhere by burying their heads in the sand, EU Minister Egemen Bağış said yesterday.

“It is Islamophobia rather than Islam that is visible in France and across Europe,” Bağış said, referring to French far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s recent statement that Islam was “more visible” than before in France. “We know Ms. Le Pen’s statements on Turkey and our values but we don’t care too much."